Palestinian prisoners living 'never-ending nightmare' during Ramadan

Youssef Srour did not know if Ramadan had begun or not. 

Arrested on 18 October from his home in Ni'lin, west of Ramallah in the centre of the occupied West Bank, Srour was in an Israeli prison in the Negev (Naqab) desert on 10 March.

"The prisoners don't have any means of communicating with the outside world. If the jailers find a wire in the room or batteries, all the prisoners are beaten, punished, taken out of the room and all their belongings are confiscated," he told Middle East Eye, explaining that they all estimated the start of Ramadan based on when they had arrived at the prison.

After six months in administrative detention, the 49-year-old Palestinian was discharged to hospital a week ago. He was seriously underweight and showed signs of fatigue and neglect. Srour told MEE that he could not count the number of times he had been brutally beaten during those months in prison.

Since the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October, the Israeli army has carried out a massive, ongoing arrest campaign across the occupied West Bank, targeting almost 8,000 Palestinians, including women and children, the sick and elderly. 

Read more: Palestinian prisoners living 'never-ending nightmare' in Israeli detention this Ramadan